In that starry night sky that was devoid of any clouds or even a moon.
Hundreds of stars in that sky started glowing brighter than the rest and they outlined a shape of the majestic archer that one could ever imagine.
The stars grew brighter and from the center of it a glow shot towards me like a comet's tail. My vitality was sucked out, along with massive amounts of mana from the surroundings, and a silhouette started conjuring levitating over the surface of the water.
Soon, the presence of the zodiac spirit. The Sagittarius surrounded the space around us and filled all of us, including approaching gigantic demonic beasts and demons with awe and wonder.
His figure appeared as if the very essence of the cosmos has come to life before our eyes.
The spirit of the Sagittarius, is one of awe-inspiring grace and celestial majesty. He stood tall and proud, with a commanding presence that exuded both strength and wisdom.
His form was that of a noble figure, with chiseled features and a countenance that reflected the boundless expanse of the cosmos itself. His eyes shimmered with the brilliance of distant stars, their gaze penetrating and knowing, as if they held the secrets of the universe within their depths.
Sagittarius was adorned in regal attire befitting his celestial origins, with flowing robes that shimmered with the hues of the night sky. Across his chest was a gleaming breastplate, intricately engraved with constellations and symbols of celestial significance.
In one hand, he held a magnificent bow crafted from pure starlight, its arcs and curves resembling the graceful curves of a cosmic dance. In the other hand, he carried a quiver filled with arrows tipped with stardust, each one a manifestation of his divine power.
Sagittarius looked like any other human archer and at the same time, he didn't. Just one gaze and every creature from the micro organisms seeped in that water to the demonic turtle that was about to come and crush them, all had only one thought in their mind.
This creature is their superior.
This creature ranked higher than them in the pyramid of existence.
Saggitarius bent down with a smile on his face.
"Nice to meet you, Tej. I have been wondering when you would be calling me.
And Nice to meet you too Water Spirit Queen, it has been a long time."
The spirit's voice was normal, at the same time ethereal.
At this moment, Nora cancelled the fusion with me and said.
"Nice to meet you too, the Noble Zodiac spirit Sagittarius."
She stood on the surface of the water and bowed. That was the status of the Zodiac spirits. They ranked higher than the spirit kings of various elements. The power and means of the Zodiac spirits are beyond the ranks and means of the other spirits.
Of course, you might wonder, how I, as a person with so little means and so little background, managed to contract with Zodiac spirits at such a tender sixth circled state.
To be honest, I didn't know at that time. I just attributed it to my talent and it wasn't exactly false.
Nora turned towards me and said.
"You cannot sustain, two of us. I shall take your leave."
Nora disappeared.
"Tej, hurry up please." Dhana spoke from the side and I turned to look at Sagittarius again.
I turned to Sagittarius and said.
"I am sorry, Sir. That I am not able to treat you properly. However, we are in a predicament and we shall fuse immediately."
"Understandable." The spirit just smiled and stood there.
And I was still kicking my legs, staying in the water, with only my head and a part of my neck out. I held my hands together and started reciting the spell.
"Bow of stars and spirit divine,
Merge our essences, intertwine.
In celestial unity, we shall align,
Human and Sagittarius, one design"
The spell was triggered and once again, I could feel my vitality being sucked out. I could literally feel the skin beside my eyes, scrunch up to form small wrinkles, what we call crow's feet.
I was aging that quickly. I was barely eighteen at that time and I was already on the way to become a middle-aged man.
Sagittarius disappeared in front my eyes as the spell was completed. He once again turned into the comet's tail like glow and entered my body. My body once again transformed.
I started floating out of the water and landed on the surface. I was standing on the water surface as if it was land. When the glow subsided, I found myself standing there in the robes of saggitarius. My silver hair started glowing with starry glitter. The bow appeared in my hands along with the arrows made of star dust.
I closed my eyes and made myself familiar with my new found power. In my eyes, everything became slow. Even the struggle my friends were going through and the approach of the beasts and demons.
My perception was working a hundred times faster than the rest.
With my thoughts, celestial power gathered in the bow and an arrow floated out of the quiver by itself. I closed my eyes and started thinking of the Royal capital of Daksh.
Sagittarius has special powers. Of course, archery is the most obvious one, but there were some other powers that he possessed.
They are related to space and one of the most important powers is called the Dimensional Precision.
Sagittarius can manipulate space, allowing for precise control over dimensional travel. This power enables the spirit to create portals or rifts that can teleport people to the place that was marked by him.
And I was planning on using it. That was the only way out for now. If only I was a bit stronger. If I was an eighth circled mage, I could have brought up a lot more power from Aquanora. And in a vast sea like that? I could have ruled over those Demons.
But now, I had to turn tail and escape to save myself and my friends.
I nocked the arrow on the bow and pulled the string. I took aim to the sky at an angle. The image of the Royal capital was vivid my mind. And using sagittarius' celestial power, I was commanding the arrow to find the location of that city.
"Through realms of space and time we roam,
With Sagittarius's guiding light alone.
We navigate the void with might,
To distant lands, our journey takes flight."
My life force started draining slowly as the spell was chanted.
With the image of the royal capital, I was just ready to let the arrow go, but at that exact moment.
[Sir, the person you mentioned is here]
I got a message and my concentration was disturbed. I lost the image of the royal capital and the city of Parva came to my mind and in that moment, I let the arrow go.
*SWOOSH*
The arrow was covered in star light, but as it passed into the sky, the surrounding space was split open by the cut as dark as night. The energy emanated from my body enveloped around Dharma and Dhana as both of us levitated.
Soon the arrow left behind a path way constructed of void, darkness and starlight. The energy that enveloped all three of us, turned us into a single streak of light like a comet and we disappeared into the void pathway.
And with us, the pathway has also disappeared.
The next thing we knew, all of us were falling down from a significant height on patch of grass.
*BOOM*
Dhana used her spell and cushioned our impact with the mana.
We landed softly on the ground.
*COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH*
I coughed wildly as I landed and Sagittarius directly canceled the fusion. The zodiac spirit looked at me and said.
"It has been fun, child. But any more time and you wouldn't be able to sustain me. Breakthrough quickly and reach at least eighth circle. I am looking forward to play with the Demons."
With that he disappeared.
I crashed into the ground, not having any energy to care about the surroundings. However, Dhana caught me and hurriedly made me drink an elixir.
An eighth ranked one at that.
Trust me, it was expensive.
As I hurriedly gulped down, I could feel my life force return to me again. I could feel my lost age come back to me.
*CAW*
As I was drinking that, we heard a crowing sound and Aelios in his fusion form came to us. I knew that we fucked up. All three of us stood up and found ourselves on a cliff not too far away from the Parva city.
And from our location, with the aid of my camera and long lens, I could see into the city right now. The city gates are closed and the whole city was being evacuated into the area of Nobility.
Because Ash was standing there along with his horse, Ember and the wolf, Fang.